Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2012 22:59:01 -0600 From: dnrock@rock.com Subject: Amoral Revisited 11 Amoral by: dnrock(dnrock@rock.com) 11: Time Marches On Andy is doing very well in school. I have only one more course for my Honors BA, in Economics. I am going to do this by remote. Our professor will be giving a special Senior Thesis Seminar, over the internet. The students are from different campuses in the UW system. We can all see each other and him. The big thing is two papers, a short one due at the mid term and a longer one, our Senior Thesis. I am writing about the effect of non economic news on stock markets and investor attitudes. That is what I want to write about. Our exact topics will not be assigned until the third week. Andy came home one afternoon, late in May, and he was livid. He told me many other students were too. After calming him down, I leaned what he was on about. Several of the religious nazis had written to the school board, demanding the homosexual teachers be fired. In the letter, which had been made public, this rather anonymous group had written the names of several of those teachers. One was Elsa. What I did see was a pattern and I did not like what I saw. The teachers named were the ones who taught science or sex education. None were "Out" and I suspect few if any are gay except Elsa maybe. Andy and I talked about this over dinner. I could see fire in his eyes, when I explained this homosexual inquisition was nothing more then a red herring and these people had a completely different agenda. I was quite and pleasantly surprised when most of the media in the area just ignored this foolishness. The weekly paper printed the letter's text, as a letter to the editor. The local Christian radio was another matter. The midstream religious groups distanced themselves from this mess as best they could. Mostly by saying no comment or some other noncommittal nonsense. I must take a brief aside here and I will keep it brief. During my university studies I became aware of a rather disturbing political/social trend in America and I dare say, in other parts of the world too. I noticed a host of failed and discredited ideas and philosophies being recycled and repackaged and through mostly emotional sales pitches, foisted on people. Greed, power, control are the underlying motivations. The politics of fear, laissez fair economics, regulation by self interest and so on, are the results. For several of the papers I did, in the recently completed semester, I did more data crunching then literature reviews. I am very much concerned that this whole sub-prime mortgage mess, is going to cause us greater trouble then most think. I can not believe we are fighting a major war and minor one, yet not properly financing either; but lowering taxes for those who need it least. We devastated social programs and built more jails at greater and greater cost. More people than ever, can not afford even minimal health care because we have abdicated its management to the for profit insurance industry. I see this kind of social crap like gay bashing and the politics of fear and extremism, for instance as an inevitable outgrowth of the failure to separate faith and rational thought. This tempest in a teapot, with the local school board, is that and perhaps just a bit more. I think it is a result of the kind of fuzzy thinking that pervades our modern society. In my history courses, I saw mistake after mistake repeated, because people failed to understand or know their past and because they fooled themselves into believing they were some how smarter then those before them. Ok, I'm off my soap box, sorry about that but I had to say it. Andy had been on the phone and email all evening. If any homework was done, it wasn't by him or any of his friends. I was sure of that. "Mat we got to do something before this school board thing gets out of hand." "Are you asking my advice or my help? My first question is, why bother?" "It's not right that's why. And don't give me all that free speech shit either. Your the last person I would suspect of tolerating these phonies and bullshitters." "I don't tolerate them, I just ignore them and refuse to do business with them." He was livid and frustrated. I could see that and I could see my comments were not helping him to think clearly. "What is it about this, that most angers you?" "False accusations and the attempt of these bigots to foist their beliefs and faith crap on us students. You were right, this is a smoke screen for much more. They want to force the school board into something or make them resign, so they can gain control of it." He started to settle down a bit. "Okay, on the false accusations, I say don't even pretend to acknowledge them. Just say something like, we students support our teachers. That's all, nothing more. If asked, just shrug your shoulders and repeat the mantra. That demonstrates one thing, the one thing you want everyone to know. Right, wrong or indifferent you don't give a shit. That takes the platform away from them. Never and I mean never, debate their issue. Since it is not an issue, refuse to talk about it. That forces them to shut the fuck up or say things that they will live to regret." "I can do that but what about the others. Get on your social network and tell them just what you and I have decided to do and why. Their false premise gains credibility, if and only if, it is acknowledged. Don't acknowledge it. Repeat the mantra." "Could we do a letter to the school board or something?" "Why not, sure, a letter that simply says, we support our teachers. Then get every student you can lay hands on to sign it." "Not every student supports every teacher, it means..." "Not the issue, you are not saying you agree with all of them, all the time. Nor are you saying you think all are equally competent or what ever. You are only saying, you support your teachers. Just like saying you support the military or the football team. Let the reader interpret it the way they will. Believe me, they will do that anyway." He ran off to his "communications center." In about 15 minutes he printed something and brought it in. "Will you drive me to school in the morning, I need to be in the door when it opens. It's still not fair, you know." "I know. I find it most discouraging that those who would be the first to cry foul, are the least fair to others. When you are a believer, fairness becomes a moot point; since your position is thought to be the only true one. That is the problem with these people. Now don't say that to any of them. You can say something like, take care or care must be taken, not to let your faith blind your understanding of fairness. That is just what happened on the Same Sex Marriage questions. It's the politics of fear again. This time they are trying to use fear or bigotry to further their agenda, but it won't work. The school board can't allow it. The students can't allow it. If they can get their way on this, then what is next? No out of town sports because the bus might have an accident? That is what these people ultimately want, you know. Next it will be no skirts above the knee and no jeans tight enough to show your assets." "Isn't that using fear?" "Yes but sometimes you have got to fight fire with fire. Look, if you say something outrageous, most people figure it out, but if you just raise some serious doubts, many will not think it through or they just don't have the data." I went through much of the thinking outlined above along with a whole lot of ethics and epistemology. (Took those courses too.) Larry and I were just sitting down to lunch when the phone rang. It was the chairman of the school board. I put him on the speaker. "Your brother did a masterful job of this, Mat. I want you to know how appreciative we are." "I will of course... Well he had lots of help.... Ninety-eight percent of the students, now that's real performance. I think they all should be proud." "I think you should go to the school board and tell them that too, John," Larry said. "I'll do that, Larry. I am just a little concerned though. The letter just said the students support our teachers. It did not say why or in what way." Larry replied, "Measure twice, cut once." "I get it." "The board's response is?" "We support our teachers." Later on, some TV or radio reporter was pressing John for what that was to mean. He too repeated the mantra but finally replied. "I suggest you go back to school, our high school, and study English. Our students seem to understand it. It is their phrase remember." "Mr. Chairman, you must want to answer these allocations?" "I have, several times now. What don't you understand about, `The School Board supports our teachers'?". They did try and ask students as they left the school, not on the school property of course. No joy, for the poor reporter. The news paper editor would only say, "Our letters to the editor space has seen many different opinions and many subjects over the years. Freedom of speech is alive and well at this paper, as is the freedom to be both correct and utterly wrong." When pressed for the paper's editorial view. "We support our students." The next morning I got a call from that same reporter. She was asking that I allow an interview with Andy. I told her I was not interested in that but if Andy wished, I would pass on her number. She wanted his cell number and so on. I just told her straight out, that if she pressed any further the next person she would be speaking with was my lawyer. She protested I couldn't do that. "Try me on for size lady. Andy is a minor and I am his legal guardian. Andy's lawyer is Carlton. Would you like his number? Now I'll pass on your message when he gets home. If he chooses to call you, that will be his choice." "I have a comment here from the ACLU and they are claiming this letter is nothing but a bigoted and unfounded load of rubbish," the reporter lady said. "Okay." "Well don't you want to comment on that?" "I support the students." She let out a frustrated grunt and hung up. Andy called her. I taped the call and told her I was doing it, just as she was. He was polite, as I told him he must be, for he was in effect representing the students. He just kept repeating the mantra. When she asked about the ACLU comment he simply said, "Those people are professionals and adults, and they speak for themselves. What I think is not new or important. Mat, my older brother, thinks you are trying to make a story out of nothing. We don't always agree. I think you have your story and just have not recognized it. We students support our teachers. We don't need to justify or give platitudinous reasons to anyone. We recognized the story here even if you didn't. We support our teachers. That is all I have to say on the subject. Thank-you for your interest." God am I proud of him. Sure I primed him and sure I reminded him to thank her for the interest, by a little note; he was just so smooth and professional. God, have I done a good job or what! "We talked about this in our communications class today. Everyone thinks that this was nothing but a publicity stunt by those church people. Even some of the kids who go to that church said so. I think they were most embarrassed by it all. They all singed the letter too. Now that the ACLU has used the term bigoted, we don't need to. I don't think this was the kind of publicity they had in mind." On the following Monday the state Assemblyman for this district, a real law and order, religious right Republican issued a statement in support of the bigots. On Tuesday he was hauled in by the state cops, apparently caught in a bawdy house raid in Madison and accused of having his fingers in the public cookie jar. I hope we have seen the last of him. Andy and Naomi seem to be even thicker then they were over the winter. I don't know, maybe it is the spring or early summer weather. She seems to spend a lot of time here lately and I am getting just a bit tired of needing to dress all the time. The deal for the resort closed and the membership drive is on in earnest. Andy took his draft of the constitution and rules to Leon and Carl, for their input and advice. He did this all on his own. Man I can't say enough about how proud I am of him. We made an inspection trip, Andy and I, this weekend past. I liked what I saw. I had been here before; wouldn't buy something sight unseen. I think Andy was impressed too. Now that the snow is off the ground, you could see a small 8 hole golf course and a nice field for the air strip. The place is 10 miles south of Eagle River, not too far from Three Lakes, more or less due north of here. Eagle River has an airport so we can do the flight thing, right from the get go. I though we need to get the place up and running, as soon as possible. Lots of outside work is required. Boats in the water, stuff like that. I met with the contractor that had done most of the work on it's recent revitalization. I was impressed with him and the quality of the work. I know he was skeptical about the viability of a private club and our ability to pay. I gave him a letter of credit from the local bank. He was not pleased, that I insisted on complete confidentiality in everything he does for us, including who and what we were. I made it sound we like we were a secret society, not unlike the Masonic Lodge in that respect. I did notice his ring. He assured me he could provide grounds keepers, mechanical and electrical maintenance people year around. These people were local and highly reliable and knew how to keep things to themselves. Now I am working on the management plans, accounting, record keeping systems and things like that. I have got out of all my speculative market investments. Sure I have some blue chips and a few medium sized, highly profitable companies, as well as two mutual funds in my portfolio. I dumped all the financials except the Canadian banks and anything with real estate or autos, as major components. I can live off my dividends and interest. No frills mind you but I will not need to draw on the trust or my off shore money. I must say I am missing the cash flow from the resort business, it was huge. Andy was getting ready to attend the big spring dance, the Prom. (In a small high school like Amhurst the Prom is attended by all the students.) I mean he was getting dressed for it. The phone rang and I was sure it must be Naomi but it wasn't, it was the county sheriff. He introduced himself and told me Leon had recommended me. They had a young lad, his words, that needed emergency foster care. That was all he said. I kissed Andy and admonished him for the 10th time not to drink and drive and take plenty of condoms. I sure didn't relish sleeping alone but it was only for one night. I was positive that he would not be home before first light. He also knows how I feel about anyone puking on my leather seats. I think it was about 5 minutes later when it dawned on me that Leon would not have recommended me for anything, without asking first. I called him but got only a machine. I called Grover's cell and he answered. Leon was in Madison, at some kind of business meeting. Okay, his cell is off and he could not have talked to the sheriff either. If that in fact was the sheriff. I went around the house and quickly hid the porn and password protected access to the computers. I turned on the lights at the gate. I texted Andy, with our code warning message. "Danger In the Night". U & N have fun. The Sheriff has about 15 deputies: mostly white men. The Sherif himself was a youngish fellow; newly elected in 06. I did not know him but do remember voting for him. His office is in the County Seat, which is the Point. Portage county is not small but it is not large either. I could see no reason to come here first. I didn't think my emergency foster care status was still in force anyway. My mind was racing. I did not want to believe something nefarious was happening. My suspicious mind would not let it go. The call button was pushed and I looked at the screen. It was a county car with two female officers in the front and someone I could not make out in the back. I released the gate and they drove in. I reached into the desk drawer and picked up a voice activated recorder and put it in my shirt pocket. I flipped on the yard lights and stood outside the front door. I did not want these people in my house. The officers got out and the driver came up to me. The other opened the rear door and a young man or older boy got out, with a small knapsack. Not procedure I thought. The knapsack should have been in the trunk. I also noticed the shotgun, that should have been in its holder on the transmission hump, was missing. I could not hear the radio crackling in the background. Introductions were made and I asked if they had the papers for Dean. "Papers?" the driver said. "Yes papers, you know the official documents from Children's Services." I turned to Dean, who was looking down and pretending to be shy. "I need some kind of receipt that shows transfer of care, from them and you to me," and turned back to the deputy. "It states his name and your name, you know the drill." She was quick, I must say that. She pulled out her little note book, wrote her name and badge number on it, his name and age and she signed it. Now she should have asked my name and confirmed the spelling for her records, but she didn't. Someone should be asking for my credentials but no one did. I said nothing. I thanked them for taking care of Dean. "You will be safe here, Dean." I put my arm around his shoulder and steered him into the house. They drove out as we went in and I watched out of the corner of my eye the car exiting. Dean is a nice looking lad. Too nice I figured. He claims to be 14 but I think 17 is more like it. At first he did not want to look me in the eye. That too raised my suspicions. This kid is an actor or model, I thought. He is method acting. I wondered what this game was all about. "Take the guest room son. Put your stuff in it. Have you had your dinner?" With that he smiled and disappeared into the guest room. He had very little with him but that is normal. He is slightly built, average height, narrow face, medium light brown hair, brown eyes and walks with grace when he forgets to play the sullen boy role. "They told me there was a boy my age living here?" "Yes, my brother Andy, he is 16. Unfortunately he is attending the Prom tonight. I doubt that we will see him until the wee hours. Are you hungry?" "Yes." "Burgers and Fries?" He nodded, and I pulled out a fridge box, "Here you make the salad?" His cell sounded. I gave him the I do not approve look and he just said. "Hi, yeah...in foster care. I'm Okay. Call you in the morning." He set the phone on the counter and when his back was turned making the salad, I took the battery out. That will be enough of that, I thought. If he calls anyone on the hard line I will have a record; it does that. He must have been hungry, for he ate three large burgers and a whole whack of fries. Over dinner, which was quite late for me, we chatted; getting to know each other. Each asked all the usual questions and each gave short concise answers. He volunteered his home was just south of the Point. "Why did they bring you here?" "Dad and mom got into a real fight and I had to call the cops, before someone got hurt." Okay I thought, realistic and yet it does not quite ring true. I pressed for more detail. "What is your case worker's name?" He didn't remember and he did not give him his card. No way I thought, that is the first thing a case worker does. Very soon it was him asking me questions. I have seen guys like this before. He was reasonably well trained and fairly quick. Several times I saw a black SUV with no lights approach the gate. Each time the lights flashed on and it backed away. I picked up my cell and phoned the Sheriff's department. "Mat Maki, fire number 273554, Rural crime watch report." I moved to the computer screen and while I was typing I saw his reflection. Dean reached for his cell and realized it was powerless, he put it back in his pocket. I isolated the attempts, which are time and date stamped, placing them on my FTP and gave the lady the FTP address. She got them and thanked me. I just said I was pressing trespass charges, that gate is well inside my property, which is well marked. If Dean is as smart as I think he is, he must realize I know he is not who or what he claims to be. We talked a little longer and the lights at the gate came on again so did the motion sensing camera. A deputy came to the call box and told me the SUV was parked on the side of the driveway but was empty. It had the Iowa license plate number but when he phoned it in the plates appear to be stolen from Council Bluffs. I thanked him and suggested he take the valve stems from two or more tires with him. He laughed and smiled, "That's a good way to impound it, until the tow truck arrives." He called his actions in on his cell phone, not his radio. While at the council I disconnected the hard line in the guest room via the mini switchboard. Then I turned on the motion sensing yard lights. I usually keep the motion sensor off, I found the animals tripping the thing, is a pain in the ass. I phoned Andy and left a message, "Danger in the Night, stay with Dennis". This was all coming apart faster then I thought it would. "Okay, Dean who are they after, you or me? The poor kid just hung his head. "Me." "If things went bad, they were to come and spring you right?" "Yes ... um Mat, I didn't give the signal." "I know you didn't and none of this is your fault. Had the others not been so stupid or had your employer done a more complete prep, it just might have. The old saying goes if you want to catch fish, know the waters." "I never heard that one before." "I just made it up. Making things up is easy." The lights flashed on and I looked out, no animal could be seen. I phoned 911 and told them the gate would be open. He started to come apart. Dean was his real name, but the family name was not his. He was a student at UW Oshkosh, in theater arts. He did not want to say who had hired him. I figured that would come soon enough. It only took about 5 minutes for the deputy, with lights and siren to come into the yard. He, of course, could see no one. Lots of places to hide here. He came up to the door and I let him in. I told him what little I knew about this. He was ready to take Dean into custody. I refused that, noting he was accepted as a guest into my home and should remain the night. He is not going any place and has done nothing all that wrong. The officer figured the men on foot would be back to their SUV by now and headed out, this time no lights. Dean was incredulous. "I don't understand, I came here to ... to." "No you came here under false pretences. All you have done is share a meal with me." "But I was supposed to entice you and possibly Andy into a sexual activity with me." "Well the prospect of having such a handsome young man in my bed is intriguing. The age of consent in Wisconsin is now 18. As I recall you are only what 17." "Just that. I skipped a couple of grades, so I am younger than most university freshmen." "Even if you did succeed in your mission, it is not you but your employer that is at risk here. It is called pandering I believe. Anyway, no harm was done. Do you have homosexual experience?" He looked at the floor. "Do you mean am I a homosexual?" "No, I mean do you have any experience in these matters, not if you were an outed homosexual." He looked even harder at the floor. "Tell me your story Dean, it just might save your ass, figuratively that is." "I, uh, I was caught by my minister fooling around with a couple of other boys, about 3 years ago. He has used that as a hammer since then." "Is he the one who told you that you were gay?" "Yes, he said, all of us were gay and that we needed to pray with him for forgiveness and to help fight this wickedness." "He also told you that if you stayed on the path he would not tell your parents?" "How do you know?" "A common trick, it is called blackmail; this time without the post being involved. What is Dean's view of himself?" "I, ah, I like girls and I don't even want sex with boys." "Then you are not gay. The true gay person has no choice in the matter; he or she is only truly interested in the same sex. It is not something one just decides to be one day. I think you are born that way. Without getting into the ins and outs of all this stuff, let me just remind you that at 13 or 14 most boys experiment a bit and masturbating with your buddies is just part of the maturation process. It is not good, bad or anything but just that, a part of growing, experimentation and learning." He looked up at me, "I know that now, I have learned a lot in the past year. He came to me and insisted I use my acting skills to help him. I did not want to but he had me. He told me all I needed to do was get you to touch me and maybe kiss me, stuff like that. Those men were supposed to film it through the window." "I have no idea why this pastor or anyone else, would even think I am interested in sex with anyone under aged, let alone males over it. Do you?" "He told me you were friends with many queers and that you had been abusing your brother for years. He just knew it, all I had to do was get the proof." "What do you think?" "I don't know what to think. I do know several of my class mates are gay and they make no attempt to hide it. At first I was appalled but I soon learned they were not interested in me that way. They are all nice people too." Well I'm sure they are interested in him that way, but I suspect he will need to show some willingness on his side. "I take it this pastor is the same one who penned the letter to our school board. The pastor at the Church of Everlasting Salvation." "Yes, he told me you and your brother made a fool of him and he would drive your queer asses out of the community." "I know he called me a sinner, proof or no, how does he justify a whole series of sins on his part? Don't even try and answer Dean, that was just a rhetorical question." "Well, I did ask him how he knew you were homosexual. He said, you and your brother must be otherwise you would not have opposed his letter. He said, they all must be since they all supported those teachers." "What does Dean say?" "I say he is the greatest sinner of the lot." "One more question. Did those pretend cops and the men outside, know exactly why you were here?" "Not exactly, the ladies only that I am an actor and we were all playing parts in a play of sorts. The men I don't know but suspect they were not told the whole truth either." "You my boy, have lucked out on this in two ways. One, you are a minor and your name can't be used. Two, you played your part well, as far as it went, and since I choose to not consider intent, to be a crime, will not press any charges. I think you need the services of a good lawyer to protect your interests." I called Carl. Leon finally called me. I gave him a brief rundown on what has just transpired. "Now I am beholding to you?" "Yes, you're now obligated for two things. One, to tell the truth, both to others and to yourself, especially about yourself. Two, to always keep your acting separated from the real you. The one thing I can't stand is a phoney and you shouldn't either. Never let yourself be manipulated by anyone again, except your mother. Mother's get to do that but only to a reasonable level. Look, you need to be clean with your lawyer, he must know and he is sworn to secrecy. The other person is the DA and if it goes to trial, the judge and jury." "But if I don't support the pastor then the whole congregation will turn against me." "My glib answer is, so let them. You don't need people like that and are better off without them. My Machiavellian self has a more political answer. Think about it this way. If what he did or said was morally wrong and or illegal, the outcome aside, no reasonable person can support it. The man is going to jail. The end can never justify the means. Not in a free society anyway. You will not pass judgement on him or anything else. I think you should judge but you know the difference. You must do what any citizen must do; tell the truth, the whole truth, so help you God. If others can't or won't respect you for it, then you surely don't want them. Keep in mind, we all have difficulty in evaluating any information or data contrary to what we have decided to believe. We must do so and those that can not, in my view are not worth my time." The poor kid just broke down and cried. His whole belief system just got crushed. Now any doubts he may have had were confirmed, at least he thinks that way. We got up in the morning when Andy came home. This time when the reporter called I was most willing to answer her questions. Now this was news, wasn't it? I gave my recording to Leon and let the chips fall where they may. The sheriff was more than pissed that anyone would steal one of his cars and impersonate himself or his deputies. He was proud of the rapid response and follow up investigation to my calls. I said I thought he should also be put out, that they did so poor a job of it. It was their lack of professionalism that gave them away. I was praised for having recognized the ruse early on. I did omit a few things from my statement, like my phone call to Grover. The young actor has turned state's evidence and faces no charges. He was tricked into taking part in this mess. He, did nothing illegal and I will not press any charges against him. A few of the petitioners were admit in support their pastor. Okay, their privilege. When pressed, I just said, "When this comes to trial, he like everyone else will be expected to give `the truth, the whole truth and noting but the truth,' I look forward to it." Andy was, to say the least, mystified by it and I had to hold him down as he was prepared to march over and give the "good reverend", a fair measure of his wrath. The last I saw of Dean, he rode away with Carl and Leon. Before they left I took him aside, placed my arm around his shoulder. "If you are still in a quandary over your sexuality, come back when your 18, I am sure I can put your doubts to rest." He just smiled. I just thought, take if for what it's worth kid, you will never get a proposition like that again. I know Andy would have jumped his bones in a "New York Minute", if he had the chance. Dean will find his way and I think make a fine actor too. Classes are quickly winding down for Andy and it is exam study time. I have a mountain of paperwork on the society consulting job.